discusses her career, and her interests in politics. amanda terkel, when you were in college, you said that you antedo get involved in a comprehensive progressive agenda. what does that mean? >> well, i think when i was in college, i intended to go to politics. journalism, we didn't really have a journalism program. i did the school newspaper for a semester but i didn't really get a lot of guidance. so i thought i wanted to go straight into politics and i had spent a semester in my school, colgate university and i thought a think tank might be an exciting place to be. so, the center for american progress was starting up, one of my professors gave me a "new york times" magazine article about it and i thought it seemed a lot of fun.

it was new. it was aggressive. it was a think tank but it wasn't your grandmother think tank. and so i decided to apply for an internship for the centers of american progress and it was great. it was a lot of fun and it was pushing a progressive agenda in a way that i think many think thanks -- tanks haven't been to show that progressives aren't all weak. and all duds, for example, showing that religious voters can also be progressive voters. so it's trying to change the onversation. >> so where does these ideas come from in your life? >> i think in part, because i grew up in a very small village, actually in upstate new york about 1,000 people, and i'm adopted. i'm from korea and my siblings are also adopted. my one brother's african-american. my other brother is also from korea. my parents, however, are white.

my father's jewish. my mother grew up christian. and the rest of the town was white, christian, and conservatives. so we were an anomaly in the town. and i think sort of growing up with that perspective as a minority, i think my father's father was involved in democratic politics. so i think i sort of grew up around those sort of politics and those of -- sort of ideas. i think i knew i wanted to come to washington, d.c. but i love growing up there and it gave me a unique perspective. >> ok. what is it like to have that mixture of a family in a small town in upstate new york? >> well, it was very fun around the holidays. my dad would come in and we should teach my classmates about hanukkah and my bar mitzvah in town was a big event. i was the only one who had a big party. they couldn't understand hebrew and they appreciated it and i

think i liked because, you know, in a lot of ways, growing up, i always felt like i was special, i was different. i could sort of chart my own course, you know. it was -- and, you know, i think there was because i was a little bit different, there was a lot of attention put on me and i was always aware of that but i think i was able to -- my siblings and i, my parents were able to educate a lot of people in town who didn't know a lot of jews or asians or african-americans. and i went to school with the same people from k through 12. we had a lot of fun. it was wonderful. i love growing up in a small town. i miss being in a small town. so, i loved it. it was great. >> now, do you practice judaism? >> not so much. i go to high holiday services. >> well, and the family, your mother is jewish, your father was christian, why did you

choose to go to the bar mitzvah route? >> my mother never converted. so she went to services with us. i went to sunday school. i help teach hebrew school for a couple of years as part of my confirmation package, if you will. i did my bar mitzvah and my parents made it efficient to raise us all jewish. >> why did they adopt these kids? were all the kids adopted in your family? >> yes. my brother is from philadelphia and my other brother is from korea. i consider my real family. i actually don't have any desire to go back and find my roots. i would like to go to korea. it seemed like a great country. but my family is my family. so i am content with that.

>> what is your current job? >> i am senior political reporter at "the huffington post." basically i spend most of my time reporting. but i also help said the editorial direction of the politics team. they don't have a beat here and so campaigns, congress, whatever is going on, i have an idea or scoop onto my right about that. >> i read somewhere where you are evil. what's that all about? >> i don't know where you read that. >> it seemed like that just floated through. oh, here's one. one of the most dangerous in america -- one of the most angerous woman in america.

crexendo know what that is about. >> before i was at the "huffington post," i was at the centers for american progress and i was working on a blog, think progress there and it's a progressive blog. we would go by what politicians or pundits were saying and that didn't always make people happy and apparently, that made me vil. >> it is from the security matters group. >> i don't remember what it was about. but if you are spending your time before the huntington post to my was at the center for mac and i was working on a blog "think progress." it was a progressive blog. we would rebuff what politicians and pundits were saying and we didn't always make people happy. >> i looked at some of the advisors on family security matters. a lot of names i didn't recognize. our 10th on the list good to want to show you some video that was recorded a few months ago and longtime veteran reporter for cbs "60 minutes."

basically talking about old media versus new media and the meet your take on this. >> citizen and journalism. you need to work within certain iscipline. i think many of these others give the real thing a very bad ame. because now everybody is on the nternet. one of the problems i have with the internet in terms of reading - everything looks as valid as "the new york times," whether it is the typeface or the way it is et up, whether you are someone

who believes aliens are out to get him or reading something from the opted pages of "the new york times," it all has the same look and makes the same visual sense. >> does he have a point? >> i talked with a lot of people who say that they are worried about the state of journalism now. i find it very saying to be in journalism now and it is a great time for young people to be getting involved in journalism and groups of people who normally wouldn't have been involved in journalism. again, i grew up in a very small own. we had our local paper. if we were lucky, we get the buffalo news. that was out -- that was about it. when i was at school, i was listening to npr and looking online and i have all of these of the resources because of the internet and because of new media.

and that started to get me more interested in journalism. i have always wanted to come to washington. i saw this more as a possibility. and i disagree, when you go on the internet, everything looks the same. i think that readers and new media consumers have become a lot more discerning. you read faces you trust. that is why a lot of times the articles we write, we do our own reporting , but maybe i will use a quote that someone gave reuters were the washington post and i will link to reuters or the washington post and give them redit for. so you can read an article by your favorite authors. they might say hey, good to andrew cell of an and see what is on his blog. that is what i like your you start to figure out who you trust. absolutely, there are things i read on the internet, a blog i have never seen come i don't

really know whether or not i should trust it. so i usually look into it a bit more myself. but that is what i like about new media. readers become more savvy and become more intelligent and it is a process of discovering and a much more assertive and interactive way of getting the news. >> who owns "the huffington post"? >> ariana, i believe she owns it and we have part of aol. > doesn't matter to you that she owns it or runs it or at least she started it? >> she is still involved in the site and she's not one of those people who started a site and tepped back. what i really like about working with ariana and working at "the huffington post" is that it is not driven by what will be popular or what will get cliques in the stories this -- will get licks.

this week, we are doing stories on black america, stories that may not get all the clicks, but to that we feel are important. people who are being pushed under in this new economy and are having trouble getting their food stamps, getting back on their feet after they left their obs. we really like the freedom we are given at "the huffington post." you can write longer stories. you can go more in depth gave you can combine that with video and new media. and give the reader a more full package. >> i have my ipad and it has "the huffington post" appear and a headline with one of your trademarks. this is a couple of weeks ago. what advice do you have -- there is so much information -- from page, politics, tech, media,

world, healthy living, lifestyle -- how would you advise people on how to deal with this website? >> i remember when i first went to "the huffington post," i felt he same way. how do they navigated? a lot of people look at the front page and click on the stories from there. some people look at the top and say i am interested in politics or sports and maybe entertainment. but more and more, i am finding people go on facebook and looking at what links there fence see -- their friends see. they will click on the story and then they discover "huffington post," through social media. >> i'm going to push this button here that says live. this is your television effort. what can you tell us about your television effort? how much are you doing with live elevision?

>> it is basically streaming on our site all day long. it covers any much every topic, just like "huffington post," politics, sports, entertainment, the environment, everything. and you have posts in new york and l.a., people in d.c., and we have reporters going on and note where the guests. but what is unique about it is that it is all done through google hangouts. so we have community members, too. they can join in the conversation and asked conversations and get their thoughts as well. >> i am looking at something right now, for someone who hasn't heard of a google hangout, how does it work? >> you have a command that you have a camera on your -- so you have a camera on your computer and you have an account on google hangouts.

>> here's one and it says be on on-air guest. >> yes. >> what do you look at yourself? >> i try to look everywhere. my morning starts when i get the print version of "the washington post." i still enjoy getting the print version of the paper because i find that reading the newspaper you tend to read more. eyond that, i listen to talk radio and i'm watching c-span nd cable news. i am going to as many news sources, looking at topics and people i'm following and interested in covering. so i am looking at twitter and facebook, everywhere. >> what is the number one issue you are interested in?

>> i think that changes on a daily basis. right now, i am covering sequestration. it touches the country and the economy in some a different ways nd i hear from a lot of people who being in furloughed, who can't get into head start. >> one thing i researched is that something dominates next to your name almost all through the process. i will run an old msnbc story and get you to explain this. >> jesse waters and a cameraman ambushed her just after she checked into a hotel on vacation in winchester, virginia. they surmise that the two men must have staked out her apartment and followed her car

for two hours to the date -- to vacation destination. they asked her about her hree-week told post. >> he wrote a blog of -- you wrote a blog about though o'reilly and you attack him and the foundation and you brought a lot of pain and suffering to this group and what is your reaction? >> i was highlighting a comment that bill o'reilly had said. i don't remember attacking the foundation. >> what did bill o'reilly say? >> i can't remember exactly what he said because it was a while ago. but i remember it was something having to do with he had talked about a rape victim and in a derogatory way that placed the blame of the rate on the -- the rape on the victim. >> what else do you want to say about this event? >> that was march 2009. i was in winchester, virginia coming couple of hours away from washington, d.c. i never got an explanation for how they tracked me down.

we tried contacting fox news and we never got an answer. on retrospect, my boyfriend and i remember seeing a car following us the entire time. the thing is that they found my apartment and thought we were going to the store and followed us across state lines at virginia. that was an unfortunate episode, i think, sort of a low for journalism. i had linked to a blog post by another blog -- sort of a low point for journalism. i had linked to a blog post by another blog. i heard that he had said controversial remarks about rape victims. i had never mentioned the rganization. they never asked me for comment. ambushed me. i was on vacation. i did not remember what i had written three weeks ago.

the result was basically this. -- it brought a lot of attention. when you're described as evil or hurting rape victims, you don't know what attention that will bring. for while, for example, my office locked its doors. they weren't sure what would happen. it ended up being fine. in part, i think it is because we knew that bill o'reilly said it would air monday evening. i put up a post and got got a lot of attention and it wasn't just from other progressive loggers. -- bloggers. it was from a lot of insert of bloggers who said that what he did was inappropriate. -- a lot of conservative loggers who said that what he did was an approach rape and -- what he did was inappropriate. so i don't think it went well or o'reilly. >> were you at the center for american progress?

>> yes. in the end, i was a little-known known blogger and got a lot of attention for that. at the time, keith olbermann and bill o'reilly were in a few. -- feud. keith oberman had me on his show. so i got a lot of exposure from that. the residual lasted for a couple of years were people say, oh, i remember you. i saw you on bill o'reilly show. i think that has died down but it did start a conversation whether this kind of ambush journalism was acceptable. >> what is a lesson for you bout all this? i think there have been seven different shows on this or seven ifferent pieces. and bill o'reilly and keith oberman were calling each other names during the whole process. people watch it. >> yes, people watch it. from my perspective, is a good for journalism?

i don't think it's a good when you don't like someone, what they write, that you go track them down without any warning to its not like i had been ignoring their calls. they never contacted me for, comment and they knew how to get in touch with us because they had other centers for american guest on. it wasn't journalism. they want tried to get a real response from a. they were trying to -- from me. they were trying to intimidate me during so for -- intimidate me. as a young woman living alone and having two guys ambush her, it doesn't show that he had any sympathy for women who had been victims of rape. hey did make me more aware and more careful. and when i speak to a lot of young journalists, young women journalists, i tell them that you should be aware. you should be careful.

i monitor a lot of the e-mails i get, the hate mail -- i think getting hate mail is something that probably every journalist gets. but i keep track of them. if anything starts to repeat come i keep track of them and i tell young journalists that they should, too. >> you have a twitter account and a facebook account. any other ways that you communicate with people? >> twitter, facebook, e-mail, and my stories. that is pretty much my remain -- my main ways. >> who is behind -- >> it is hilarious. it has nothing to do with me. it is a crazy fake person who is lways angry at everything. >> and they seem to love to use a lot of language. >> you can't read it all on air.

>> i can. where the f is this baby. just spoke to the royal baby. it wants to tell you you are unloved and you should f-ing die. and you know who the people are that are doing this. >> i do. i knew when they were starting it, they pulled my picture and i said that was fine. it has honestly been hilarious. i have a lot of people now who refer to me as turkel rage. a lot of people think that is my real twitter account. but that's not me. i am not angry all the time. >> when i lock -- when i looked at it, but she must be behind it. >> now. -- no. it is very clever and angry. >> you want to tell us who is doing it? >> no, it's a secret. i don't go into a rage. i get worked up and i am passionate about the news and politics, but i am not like that.

>> how we -- how do we know when you're being passionate? >> it comes across in my writing. again, i don't use that sort of language in my writing. but there is a lot going on. there are a lot of issues going on the people care about. hopefully, when we highlight those things, people are moved. journalism shouldn't be so removed and distant. if a site is wrong or lying, they should be called out. i don't think they should be given equal time with the truth. so hopefully that comes across in the writing. reason bags -- >> back to your roots at home, what did your parents do? >> my dad was a photographer. he did family portraits and things like that. and he worked at the school as a teacher's aide for a. -- for quite a while. my mother works for what was a long time a local chevrolet dealership, in the office. >> where did you get your

interest in politics? >> i don't know. my grandfather, who passed away before i was born, was involved in politics. but i don't think it came from there because i never knew him. in school, i liked history and english. for a long time, i looked about -- i thought it would be a high school he was teacher. but i took a field trip to ashington and i really enjoyed being in washington, being in politics. and in high school, we had politicians come to our school and talk. so i went to those. so by the time i went to college, i knew i would be a political science major. coming to washington inspired e. hopefully, it still does for some people. i don't know if it still does these days. >> how old are you? >> i was in eighth grade. >> what do you remember from that trip? >> a lot of it was fuzzy.

we did a lot of the tourist attractions. e went to the white house, the capitol, but i think just being around all this -- i ended up going back in my senior year for of the class trip and then i did a program called residential classroom which brought a lot of young people who are interested in politics -- called presidential classroom which brought a lot of young people who are interested in politics together. for me, it was really energizing. it was part of what cemented it or me. >> would you call yourself a journalist now or an activist? > i am a journalist now. when i was at the center for american progress, it was a unique data center for american progress, it was a unique job. it was a nice mix. better -- but i really like the journalism part. love talking to people, going

to event, so when "huffington post" had an opening for a reporter, i was very interested in that -- "huffington post" had an opening for a reporter, i was very interested in that. i now get to report and help edit and manage and i love it. >> do you know how many people come to "huffington post" every day? >> i don't. i luckily don't have to concern myself with that too much. >> recently, you were on a panel for netridge 2000. -- 2013. what is netridge? >> that is a group for activists and bloggers, but there aren't s many bloggers. i was there on a panel. i was also there covering some speakers and events going on. i was there covering it, but i was also doing a panel. >> people understand how to watch this news when they are

activists and are involved. jeff mcintosh was on the panel with you for "emily's list." > that is a pro-choice organization that is for women who run for office and are democrats. >> when she is talking about the ability for people like her to influence the liberal press, let's watch which he says. -- she says. >> progressive leaning, they are not partisan allies at all. there is no chance that i can call up anybody at mother jones or at tpm to kill a story that was against democrats or pitch a story that was crap. they would be mad at me. [laughter] those outlets have a reputation, but the journalism is absolutely solid and not slanted at all. and i think that is understood and respected by other journalists. > should people watching

believe her? >> yes, absolutely. we have comments from harry reid, but we also have comments from mitch mcconnell's office. we have republican members who talk to us all the time. the same on the democratic side could we have people on both sides to hate us here in -- hate us. so we let the reporting speak for itself. there are many people i have run into at tea party rallies who don't trust "the new york imes." but if you really are reporting, it speaks for itself. >> we just had on the screen -- you didn't see it -- a headline from earlier today on "huffington post." you see the two leaders there. who writes those? >> we have a team of people who writes them. usually, it is crowd source.

they will say that here are some ideas. does anybody else have any ideas? but we have a team of people who run the front page and a team of people who run the politics page and they are responsible for coming up with headlines and making sure we have the breaking news emma making sure that all the pictures look great and writing headlines is an art that takes a long time to master. >> if you write an article, can you write the headlines for it? >> yes. sometimes they will change them. we know our stories better than anyone else. again, they may change them and accept them, but ultimately they -- but ultimately, it is our story. in the d.c. office, most of the staff is -- most of the staff is in new york. but in the d.c. office, there are about 60 people. >> i understand you're moving in

this timeframe, but this will give people an idea of what it looks like up close. why do journalists sit so close together without any separation, without a cubicle, and how can you think when you are writing? >> we are feeding each other's energy. we are i.m.ing each other. >> what does that mean? >> we send messages to each other. but we also like to shout out ideas to each other. we like to talk. i could work from home, but it is more useful when i am in the office because i hear what everyone else's thinking and what everybody else is saying and that goestenkors me -- gives me better ideas. >> would -- and i get better ideas. >> what is the average age of the people in that room? >> i don't know. are probably around 30.

it is a very young office. i think people who work in media tend to be very young. it is what they have grown up ith. even for me, i feel like i am getting a little older for t. people who are just graduating from college, they have only known social media and media online stuff. we don't have to teach them. they just know it. >> here is video of you at that same netridge nation session where you're talking about video ournalism. >> if you go to your local members town hall and you get a reat clip and you think "the "huffington post" will love that . send as much of the clip as you can. if you said here is something that a politician is saying something crazy put it up, i'm not going to put it up.

i don't want to receive blowback and have a lawmaker saying that i am taking it out of context and i have no response. >> has people done that you want them to do, send you the hole clip? >> i think people are learning. he mentioned citizen journalism and matt drudge at the drudge report. i think those are different things. i wouldn't call matt drudge a citizen journalist. a citizen journalist is just people, not journalists. they are out and they see something interesting and the capture it on their phone and then they send it to reporters, and a lot of outlets, like "huffington post" and "cnn." you can write up something that accompanies it. you don't know who the citizen journalists are so you probably don't trust them. but if they have video proof, it makes it that much more ompelling.

if you send text -- if you send 10 seconds of what a congressman said and it sounds crazy, i don't think anyone will trust you. but if you have a town hall and it shows what the congressman said and it is controversial, i think the media will take otice. >> on the front page or the homepage of "huffington post," here are all things ariana. her upcoming schedule, tv appearances -- ou can get on there and find out almost anything that she has talked about in the last several months. why do you have that on there? >> people love ariana. she is sort of a social media wizard, i think.

she has a great instagram account, twitter account, facebook account. people follow her. people are interested in what she is doing. she is always doing interesting things. she has interesting things to say. that is a way for people to stay updated with her. >> what gets the most attention? >> i think it depends on certain topics that tend to be popular with our audiences. things on guantánamo bay very -- are popular with our audiences, stories on drones, stories on ron paul, actually. i think there are a lot of ron paul fans out there looking for ron paul news. online, news about marijuana tends to be very popular. and i think that is why come up you see the president, for example, take questions from people online, there is always a question in there about pot. they like reading -- mitt romney

was obviously very popular during the election, things about obama and things about ichelle obama. >> here is some video of mitt romney that you will recognize. everybody will recognize it. i will ask what you think of this kind of thing -- of what this kind of thing does to the whole discussion. >> 47% of americans don't pay ncome tax. >> it came from "mother jones," leftist magazine.

it was facilitated with jimmy carter's grandson, filmed by the bartender. good or bad for the system? and should he have gotten as bad a wrap on saying what he aid? >> i don't like it and i don't think a lot of people like it, when politicians appear to be saying one thing in public settings and another thing in private settings to wealthy onors. i think that is why this video is so popular. voters don't like when they think they're being lied to or if a politician is trying to windle them. and what mitt romney said was not quite what he was saying on the campaign trail here in and that is -- campaign trail. and that is why it was so popular. i think mitt romney deserves the criticism that he received for hat comment. it portrayed a large portion of the american public in a very unfair and negative light. and it started, i think him a conversation on whether that was accurate -- i think, a conversation with her that was ccurate.

and i think it got the attention that it deserves. are from your experience, who tells the truth both behind the scenes and in front of the camera? if you look at it just as an observer, both sides, people are saying a lot of things that they are going to do and have done the opposite? so where do you draw the ine? >> a lot of times, there are politicians who one side or the other doesn't like. they tend to be more outspoken. a lot of those politicians, what they are saying may shock people in public, but they are saying the same things in private, which is part of the reason a lot of times they do catch on. but opening up fundraisers more, letting the public know when oliticians are doing fundraisers, getting more media to those types of events, i think that is good and i think that those sort of things should be closed to the public just because they can pay the money

to get in. >> who is your favorite politician? >> in history? >> it can be now or in history. give us the kind of people you have followed over the years and admired. >> i just read a biography by ancy unger about senator bob pollock am a republican from wisconsin am a known as fighting bob follett. i think has been named by his peers as one of the seven greatest senators in history. he was incredibly progressive. i think some of his ideas were a little ahead of its time. he was not always well-liked. but he helped institute the eight-our work day, women's suffrage right,s for unions, the direct election of senators. he was unstoppable. he pushed for this is entire ife.

he tried to run for president and it didn't work out, in part because he could ruffle feathers. he pulled and always get along with him. he was very stubborn. and he said what was on his mind. by what he accomplished and what -- and his ideas led to fdr taking up his ideas. >> who else? >> maybe not a politician was frances perkins, the first female cabinet secretary. she was fdr's labor secretary. it was a time when women tended not to be in public life. her biggest achievement was probably getting social security in place. she is just remarkable. >> how about today, people that you see today? >> someone i love interviewing today is bill clinton. everyone knows that he likes to talk to them he is interesting. and i have had the occasion sit down with him over several years.

it tends to be in small group settings. any question you throw at him, ow obscure, policy topic, he loves people. he will opine long after his aides have tapped to their watches. and there a genuine curiosity for all policy topics that makes him a very fun interview subject. >> you are in a pool. >> generally, one reporter is hosen -- they can't a lot of press in peer it was a small event, so they choose one reporter to go in and writing report on everything that happens. then you send it out to other reporters, the rest of the reporters on the white house press list. they couldn't either but they get to share it with all reporters and all news outlets get it.

michelle obama doesn't tend to make as much news as her husband. o we went to a small back at fundraiser in washington, d.c. she was saying standard remarks and there was a protester who was calling for equality for gays and lesbians. and michelle obama, not to dealing with protesters, stepped down from the lectern and confronted the protester and basically said, if you want to talk, that's fine, but i'm leaving. the other guests got very mad with the protester. it attracted a lot of news. it was an unexpected reaction from the first lady and it was unexpected that she was being protested in the first place. >> back to the netroots conference. this has to do with political pponents caught on tape.

>> and, if there was anyone going back to romney, anyone who sold american bridge that are than i could or anybody who works for us, it was eric earned strum when, right after -- eric byrnes strum -- eric bernstrum. right after, he was asked, your guy did a lot of extreme wings in the -- extreme things in the primary. don't you think that this will hurt him? and he said that voters are pretty dumb. that it is like an etch a sketch and you can just start clean. no, you can't start clean. >> what do you think? >> he's right. now there are groups like american bridge on the left -- >> that is a pac. >> yes, that is a super -- super p.a.c. they are doing a lot of research. they don't confront the candidate. they just videotape it so that

all of their words are caught on tape. republicans are doing this, too, called america rising. so if it is at a tv show or at one of your events, somebody will see it. it will be caught on tape. when you run for office down the line, someone will bring it p. i think we saw that voters are not forgetting. todd akin had a very controversial comment about race and he wasn't able to shake that off. >> we have that comment from todd akin. we will remind our office with his was all about. >> if an abortion was tubal pregnancy, what about rape? should it be legal or not? >> people want to make that is one of those things, well, how do you slice this ethical uestion? it seems to me what i know from

doctors, if it is a legitimate rape, the female body has ways to shut that whole thing down. let's assume that didn't work or something. i think there should be some punishment. but the punishment should be the rapist and not attacking the child. >> what did he say wrong? >> what he said was scientifically inaccurate. a woman who has been raped cannot just decide to not get pregnant that is physically mpossible. and he also used "legitimate rape" as if those who are raped are not telling the truth. i think a lot of women reacted to this. he is someone who's trying to set policy on women's reproductive rights, yet he doesn't doesn't seem to understand how the female body works. it was just -- democrats had been saying that republicans are waging a war on women, trying to legislate too much on abortion and access to contraception.

and this did not help republicans. todd akin was never able to recover from it and he lost the senate race. >> richard murdoch from indiana had a similar controversy. here's what he said during the ampaign. >> i know that some disagree. but i believe that life begins at conception. i struggled with it, but life is a gift from god. even when life begins in that horrible situation of rape, it is something that god intended to happen. >> what did he say wrong? >> he was basically saying that god wanted women to be raped and that these babies are gifts from god and that they should not be aborted. that is why he had gotten so much attention, because todd

akin had already made that of the comment. i think people throughout their hands in exasperation, even republicans, the more candidates were saying things like this. it was basically hurting them with a lot of women voters. >> why do we constantly talk about abortion and rape? since i have been in this town, every year, it is an issue. >> that is a great question. i have no idea. we hear politicians say they will focus on the economy, that it will be there were number one focus, then we hear about some lawmaker who brings up a bill to defun plan parenthood, to ban abortions after. any weeks why the ash after 20 weeks. -- to ban abortions after 20 weeks. there are antiabortion lawmakers who feel they have to push this and a lot of it is happening on the state level. many republican lawmakers are rushing this legislation. we are not saying it as much --

we are not seeing it as much on the federal level anymore. but in the states definitely. >> what do you think will happen in 2016? >> i try not make those predictions. in terms of the senate, the republicans have a good chance of taking seats from democrats. there are three seats of democrats that are retiring and it looks like they will go to republicans. and there are three or four that a republican that looks good for democrats. but the landscape looked good for republicans in 2012 and they lost seats. so it is too early to predict. >> i know it's early, but from the presidential side -- >> in 2016, right, that was 2014. so in 20 16, it depends whether

or not hillary clinton runs. if she runs, i don't think you will see other democrats run. in terms of republicans, i don't know who will want to challenge her. i think many republicans will realize that she has a good shot and they may want to take her on or they may decide to wait until maybe she's not running or maybe she loses and they have a better hot. if she doesn't run come i think the field is wide open. republicans have a lot of young stars on their side here i -- heir site. -- side. democrats have a couple. it would be a much wider field, sort of a wild card. >> where do you think this whole business of communications will be in another 10 years? >> i wish i knew. i would invest and start something. don't want to see the loss of

print journalism. a lot of the national journalism isn't as good if you don't have the local journalism. a lot of what i do is watching, reading local and state stories, seeing what is happening at that level and figuring out how it is bubbling up to the national level. so if there are not people on the ground doing that sort of work -- because i think national journalism suffers quite a bit. so i hope someone figures out a way how to keep that sustainable and to keep those people in place. i think we will see more social media were people don't go to the website, news outlets as much, but simply see stories being shared by others, by what their friends are talking about andnews -- and news go that way instead of going to these four websites here in -- website.

>> you started out with some internships. you worked for senator charles schumer? what did you learn there? >> i learned that you get a lot of callers who have a lot of strange concerns sometimes. but i really loved working in the buffalo office because that is where you got to interact with the constituents irectly. people needing very small things, just a call to the senator's office, that could get their paperwork expedited and that was very gratifying. people would come to the obvious and thank you for your help. and just getting a simple call saying what is the status on this can make the world a difference. it was nice to see these constituent services at work. >> what did you do with the new york attorney general? >> it was actually very similar.

a lot of times, people would have problems with businesses or companies and they would write in with their complaints. >> who was the attorney general? >> elliott. -- eliot spitzer. so we would look into these complaints. we might make a call. we might send a letter. a lot of times, these things were resolved once they realized the attorney general was working. again, i was an intern. it was not at a high level, but simply making a phone call, -- a y sending a ler could letter could make a world of difference for this people when they aren't -- when they are waiting for some sort of resolution for a long time. >> would you think about elliott it's her running for governor and stepping down -- eliot spitzer running for governor and stepping down? >> it disappointed a lot of eople. now i think that -- at the same time, he is a very effective

attorney general. e helped to turn around that office hearing april really love but he did here and he aggressively went after wall street. some people may be willing to forget what he did on the personal side because they like what he did in public life. we'll see. there are a lot of cases out there. and people are waiting to see if they are ready to trust these people based on the public record. >> if you are married and your husband did that to you, what would you do? >> and terms of how i would react to -- for example -- i think that is a tough position for a spouse to be in. honestly, i can't say and i don't want to pass judgment.

i think some of these political spouses get judgment passed on them. like hillary clinton, how could she stand by bill clinton after he did that. but i don't think you can say -- and you can judge them without being in a position -- instead of knowing what the relationship was, what they went through. so i could not say it without being in that position. >> a lot of people think that this country is in store for a bad time when it comes to the money and the deficit and the debt and all that. what do you think? >> i think there's too much attention put on the debt and the deficit. for example, sequestration, it helps the deficit and the debt situation, but is it the best thing to do? is it really good to kick people off the headstart roles in order to lower the deficit a little bit? obviously, at a time when the

economy is not doing that well, people don't have jobs, cutting back on the spending is perhaps not quite what has shown to be working rather than more timulus. so i think that washington gets wrapped up in the debt and deficit and doesn't look beyond that what is happening with the est of the country and the effect this is happening on the ground for people who have no jobs and can i get on their feet and can i government benefits that were there for them as a safety net there -- and cannot get on their feet and cannot get government benefits that were there for them as a safety net. you are always a little bit worried. i think people want to do better than their parents did and you see people who have friends who cannot find jobs, family members who cannot find jobs and you're ot immune from that.

and you are not immune from that. journalists have a lot of friends who are reporters were getting laid off. their papers are folding. photography staffs are being laid off here and so as a reporter, you are watching that and are very concerned. >> back to your family, you have a korean brother who is adopted, n african-american brother who is adopted am a mother is jewish and your father is christine. you had a bat mitzvah when you were 13, i assume. did you face prejudice at all? and if you did, was yours different from your african-american brothers prejudice? >> i can't speak for what he ent through. i think, yes, there is some prejudice. a lot of times -- and i think this is something a lot of asians come through -- people

come up and start speaking gibberish to you as if he can nderstand it because it sounds chinese. you get a lot of people who come up to you and assume you can't speaking this properly. and you get a lot of that. it is mostly ignorance. it mostly doesn't really affect my life. i think being a woman and being in politics and journalism, you also have to deal with some sexism. people making comments that imply, for example, congress man steve cohen said the other day to a female politics reporter when she asked him a question, he said, you're very attractive, but i am not going to speak to you about that today. how she looks should not come into play. a lot of male reporters don't have to deal with that. and that is what i tell a lot of young female reporters to be ware of that it will happen. >> you are a 2004 graduate, near the top of your class at

colgate. here is the question that a lot of people would ask. but answered once and for all. is studs terkel your grandfather? >> no. i think, on my dads side, he may be distally related, but i don't know exactly what it is. but he is definitely not my grandfather. >> did you ever study who he was? >> i read some pieces by him sharing i don't think i studied him, but i read some pieces by him. i didn't read anything by him until college. >> where will you be in 10 years? >> i don't know. think it's great. i don't want to know. >> would you rather be a

politician or journalism? >> i love journalism. >> the politics section is a great place to go. >> amanda terkel, we appreciate you very much for joining us. > thank you. >> for a dvd copy of this rogram, call 1-877-662-7726. for free transcript or to give us your comments about this program, visit us at -- programs are also available as odcasts.

>> coming up next on c-span, "washington journal," live with the latest news, headlines and your phone calls. then at 10:00 a.m., we will be live at the w.k. kellogg foundation in washington, d.c. for a discussion on race relations in america. and later at 1:00 p.m. eastern, we'll bring you democratic congressman at a live town hall eeting in chantilly, virginia. coming up next, live on "washington journal," your calls and the latest news and headlines. then a look at how small businesses view the economy and their opportunities with investment with todd mccracken. after that, jay hancock continues our series on the health care law with a discussion on how some employers are adjusting to law while also trying to control health care costs.

then, a conversation on the latest air traffic technology with the director of civil aviation with the accountability office. [captioning performed by national captioning institute] ♪ it isgood morning, monday, august 26, 2013. president obama is scheduled to hold meetings at the white house today as a ministration officials reveals a list of targets for potential strikes in the syrian government in response to last week's suspected to michael attack. even though congress is not scheduled to return to session for two more weeks, several key lawmakers took to the sunday shows yesterday to discuss u.s. options in syria. in some cases they pressed the white house to act. and as we take you through the latest on the syrian situation,